


behind mechanical eyes

by ratbrain



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Jonny d'Ville and Nastya Rasputina are Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:26:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27882965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ratbrain/pseuds/ratbrain
Summary: When Tim is infected by a mind controlling parasite who wants to take over the Aurora, the parasite decides to have some fun and make Jonny think Tim is mad at him. Once the crew gets rid of the parasite, it's up to Tim to try and comfort Jonny after the awful things he said.
Relationships: Jonny d'Ville/Gunpowder Tim
Comments: 7
Kudos: 67





	behind mechanical eyes

So Tim was infected by a mind controlling parasite, and no one knew it. 

You might be asking how this possibly could have happened, and are thinking that there must be some elaborate and interesting backstory involved. Perhaps you’re thinking that the mechanisms were lured to an evil planet by some mysterious force, or simply by the thought of violence, and Tim was kidnapped and returned hours later seemingly normal, but had actually been infected by a horrifying parasite against his will. And that would be an amazing story, and an even better one to tell than this one, probably. 

Except for that’s not what happened. 

Instead what had happened was simply this: the mechanisms had been lured to a planet by the thought of violence. That part was true, as it was true for a majority of the places they visited. However it’s the second half of the story where things change. 

Tim had gotten infected because he wasn’t looking where he was going, and he walked into a spiderweb. 

Well, at least he thought it had looked like a spiderweb. Hence why he was able to brush the thought off so easily, and definitely didn’t freak out at the gross feeling and instantly thank whoever was listening that nobody else had been around to see it. Of course when he realized his vision was going black and that he was still alone in the hot jungles of this strange planet, his last thought before completely succumbing to the darkness was wishing desperately that somebody was with him. 

When Tim showed up on the Aurora, no one questioned anything. After all, why would they? It wasn’t like he looked any different or said anything concerning. It was just Tim, coming back on board as he had thousands of times before. 

This specific parasite that had decided to make Tim its host was in fact a very clever one, and decided to use what parts of Tim’s memories he could access (which were few and far between, but enough for what he wanted) to formulate a plan. It could turn the others against each other, and it knew exactly who to start with. 

“Hey Tim,” Jonny said, walking up with Ashes alongside him, “help us settle a bet. If Ashes were to set me on fire, how long do you think it would take me to die?”

The parasite looked between the two of them. It knew Jonny would be the easiest to break, because he had the closest connection to Tim. Ashes it could save for later, turn somebody else against them, but for now it had to get Jonny alone to do what it wanted. 

“Uh,” it said, trying its best to mimic how Tim would sound based on his memories,“I’m not sure? Probably a good few minutes, depending on how well they set you on fire.”

“See?” Ashes said, looking over to Jonny, “I told you it would be shorter than a half an hour.”

“I think I could take it!” Jonny protested, crossing his arms. 

“Yeah. Hey Jonny would you come with me back to my room? I’ve got a fucking migraine, I think my mechanism is acting up again.”

Jonny tried to play nonchalant in front of Ashes, but failed instantly as his more caring instincts came through. 

“Of course, you want me to get you some water or something?” he asked as they started walking in the direction of Tim’s room. Ashes simply laughed at Jonny’s coddling before heading off to go ask Brian about their next destination. 

The parasite denied needing water, and waited until they were out of earshot of anyone else to speak up again. 

“Hey have I ever told you that you’re really fucking annoying?”

Jonny turned quickly to look at it, surprised more than anything else. The parasite could tell he was trying to sound angry, and maybe he was angry, but when Jonny spoke there was definitely more hurt than anything in his voice. 

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he asked. 

“Christ do you ever shut the fuck up? I swear to god would it kill you to just leave me the fuck  _ alone _ ?”

“B-but you asked me to go with you? I don’t understand, I-”

“Of course you don’t, fucking idiot. Why don’t you do something useful for once and get the fuck out of here?”

For a second it looked like Jonny might kill him. He certainly seemed angry enough to do it, and his face was red enough. But his shoulders shook ever so slightly, and before he could do anything he began crying and ran off in the other direction. 

Perfect. 

Nastya was working in the engine room, as she usually was. Nothing too important, more like going over old work and seeing if there were any modifications that needed to be made. There weren’t, and a part of her knew this, but she didn’t have much better things to do. 

“Nastya?” Aurora said. 

“Yes?” She answered. 

“There is something I need to tell you, Tim-”

But Aurora never got to finish that sentence, because at that moment Jonny came racing through the door, wildly calling out her name. 

“Jonny, what-” she began, intending to make fun of him because why not, but then she saw his face and instantly stopped. She closed and locked the door (she knew Jonny hated anyone seeing him cry, and was not about to risk making the situation worse) before going back over to him. 

“Jonny, what happened?” she asked. 

“H-h-he yelled at me,” Jonny sobbed, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand and effectively spreading tears and mucus all over his face. 

“Who did?”

“T-tim.”

That was surprising. Sure, they’d always had a very mock rivalry type of dynamic, but Tim was also incredibly patient. The idea of him actually yelling at Jonny was almost unfathomable to Nastya, who gently inquired further. 

“We were on the bridge, and he said he had a headache and asked me to go back to his room with him. I said yes, and when we were walking he just started yelling at me.”

“What did he say?”

“T-told me I was annoying an’ stupid and that I should just leave him alone.”

“Tim said those things?” Nastya asked, and Jonny nodded quickly. 

“Oh, Jonny,” Nastya said, sitting down and pulling Jonny into a hug. He clung to her tightly, sobbing into her shoulder. 

“I t-told you eventually h-he’d realize I was annoying and w-wouldn't wanna be with me anymore!” he managed to choke out between sobs, and Nastya’s heart broke for him. 

“No, I’m sure that’s not true. You said he had a headache, right? Maybe he was just frustrated or something like that. I’m sure he didn’t want to hurt you,” she said, even though she knew fully well that the second Jonny was alright she was absolutely going to kick Tim’s ass for saying those things to her brother. 

“I hadn’t seen him like that since we first picked him up, since he first got mechanized,” Jonny said, refusing to let go of his hold on Nastya. 

Nastya remembered that time. Tim had been so angry, no one could talk to him for weeks without getting a bullet put through their brain. Jonny had cried nearly every night to Nastya, wondering if they’d made the right choice, if he was a horrible person to make the one he loved so much immortal. He’d also insisted that Tim hadn’t always been like this, and that he knew Tim better and that underneath it all he was a total sweetheart. Nastya was willing to believe Jonny then, but it wasn’t until weeks had passed and Tim slowly came around to his new life that she could truly see what he’d meant. 

“Nastya?” Aurora tried again, “I realize this is a bad time, however this is important. Tim is not who you think he is.”

Which of course only made Jonny cry harder, and Nastya glared at her. 

“I didn't mean it like that. I simply meant that while exploring this planet, Tim was infected by a parasite.”

“How do you know this?” Nastya said, sitting up a bit more as Jonny slowly loosened his hold on her. 

“The parasite is not very intelligent. He has been monologuing his entire plan in Tim’s room as we speak. His insults to Jonny were merely an attempt to cause disruption amongst the crew.”

“Well, what do we do to get rid of it?” Nastya asked. “Never mind that now, I have to go tell the others. You coming Jonny?” She asked, but Jonny just slid off of her and brought his knees up to his chest before shaking his head no. Nastya hated the thought of leaving him like this, but knew it was important. She nodded at him before going off to find the others. 

So that was how an hour later Tim came to, tied to a chair, feeling the familiar headache of a regenerating bullet wound to the brain. 

“W-what happened?” He asked, “I was, I was walking and everything went dark.”

“You were infected by an alien parasite. We just shot it,” Ashes explained, and Tim looked over at Marius, who stood happily holding a smoking gun in his hand. 

“You know I think this is the closest he’s ever come to doing something actually resembling a doctor,” Ashes joked, and Tim laughed weakly. 

“What did I do while I was gone?” Tim asked, and Ashes and Marius exchanged awkward glances. 

“You don’t remember anything?” Marius asked, and Tim shook his head. Marius sighed. 

“Well, you, uh, you said some pretty horrible shit to Jonny. Well, you didn’t, I guess, that thing did, but yeah.”

“Oh Christ, how bad was it?”

“Pretty bad,” Ashes said, blunt as ever, which Tim was immensely thankful for, “he’s locked himself in his room, won’t let anyone come in.”

“Oh no,” Tim sighed, putting his head in his hands. 

“On the bright side, we kept your parasite thingy in this little jar, wanna see?” Marius said, holding up a jar with a crushed up little creature that might’ve once resembled a spider, but was now nothing more than a small pile of green slime. Gross. He made a mental note to never ask what they'd had to do to get that thing out of him as he went to Jonny's room. 

Tim knocked on Jonny’s door. 

“Jonny? It’s me, Tim. Actually Tim this time, I promise.”

The door opened, and Jonny stood awkwardly as Tim looked at him. 

“Can I come in?” he asked, and Jonny nodded. 

Tim sat down on the edge of Jonny’s bed and motioned for Jonny to sit next to him, but instead Jonny sat a few feet away from him. Tim knew Jonny had every right to be afraid and sad, but that hurt. After all, this was Jonny, who took any opportunity to be close to him that he could get. Jonny, who tried to play it off as if physical affection meant little to him but who everyone could see loved being hugged and who everyone on board sought out if they ever needed a good cuddle. 

“Jonny I am so so sorry.”

“S’okay. I know it wasn’t you, it was that weird parasite thingy.”

“But still, I’m so sorry that you had to hear me-”

“Tim it’s  _ fine,”  _ Jonny said, although a slight crack in his voice betrayed him entirely. “Oh fucking  _ hell _ ,” he squeaked as he began to cry. 

Tim moved a bit closer to him, and Jonny fell into his chest. Tim rocked him as much as he could, given their awkward positions, and gently smoothed back Jonny’s hair. 

“I was so scared Tim. Y-you sounded so angry at me and I didn’t know what I’d even done wrong and-”

“Shh shh, none of that now, Jonny-love. It’s alright. I know you were scared, and I’m so sorry that you had to hear those awful things, but please believe me that none of them are true.”

“I thought you’d finally realized how annoying I am and that you’re better off without me.”

“No, no of course not Jonny. I love you, I would never even think those things about you, I promise. There’s no need to cry now, darling, it’s alright, you’re okay.”

They stayed like that for a while, until Jonny had practically cried himself out against Tim’s chest. Tim whispered soft praises in his ear the entire time, told Jonny how sorry he was and how much he loved him. By the time he was done Jonny had all but gone limp against Tim, and was half asleep when Tim spoke. 

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” he knew it was a stupid question, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. Jonny only shrugged against him. 

“Did you eat anything today?” he tried, and Jonny nodded. 

“Okay. If you want I can run you a bath and wash your hair the way that you like?”

Jonny smiled a bit, “I thought I told you to forget about that,” he said, but his tone was fond. 

“When it makes you go all soft and happy like an octokitten? Sorry my love, I don’t think I’m able to forget that.”

“You know you literally made me cry today, and yet somehow being compared to an octokitten was actually the worst part of today,” Jonny said sarcastically, to which Tim rolled his eyes. 

“I’m assuming that’s a yes then?” Tim asked, and Jonny nodded happily. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You know with all the fake lore I make up for mechs fics I could honestly be a sci fi writer at this point. And while that is the long term goal, it's so much easier to just use self projection to make mechanisms fanfiction.


End file.
